In December 2015, we will have 8 days long Food Tour Of India With A Chef which will cover cuisines and sights of Delhi, Agra, Jaipur and Jodhpur . The culinary activities includes food tours, cooking classes, introduction to spices and much more, all done by local expert chefs. Additionally, the food tour will cover sightseeing of all major monuments in every city p
lus a few other interesting activities like playtime with elephants, desert safaris, night stay in campsite and more. This food tour of India will be fast paced and suitable for foodies who wish to do experience the best of India in shortest time possible. This food tour with a chef will also have a professional photographer accompanying the guests during who will take their pictures as well as help them take some good ones wherever required in Delhi and 1-2 other places.

Check in on 14th December, New Delhi

The day before official start of food tour, i.e. on 14th December the guests will be picked up from airport or some other location in city and transported to their hotel in Delhi where they will stay for 2 more nights. Chef Rajeev will meet them there and take them on a gourmet dinner in one of top restaurants in Delhi. The dinner will be an occasion to be introduced to fellow travellers and get some information related to the tour like what to expect, what to wear and so on.

DAY 1 : Food Tour of Delhi

Our first day begins with food tour of Delhi, starting with old Delhi. A great way to be introduced to Indian cuisine and culture, this food tour will set the mood for the rest of the trip. You [...]

Palak Paneer Recipe
Palak Paneer is hugely popular north India dish and has vibrancy of aura and spices. For vegetarians this combination is the best choice when they want to treat the taste buds with amazing different flavours.

In hot water blanch the spinach
Cover and keep aside for approximately 10 minutes.
Next, add green chillies and make a pulp of the mixture.
Grind the 2 large tomatoes in the mixture to make tomato pulp
In a pan, add oil or butter then add the onions.
Heat them on low flame.
Let the onions go light brown and then add ginger garlic paste.
Now add dhania, jeera, salt and then tomatoes
Now add the Palak pulp, then cover and cook for 10 minutes
Add the Paneer pieces and turn off the flame
Garnish with cream and serve with roti or nan.

Put the Rava (semolina) in a deep vessel and roast it for 2-3 minutes on low flame.
Then add ghee (clarified butter) and roast again for 4 minutes on medium flame.
Stir the Rava and keep it in aside
Put milk, sugar and water in same vessel containing the roasted Rava.
Add dry fruits, saffron, cardamom powder and bring the mixture to a boil on low flame.
Stir well to avoid lumps.
Once the combination forms a solid mass, turn off the flame.
Use dry fruits for garnishing and serve hot with the pooris.

For pooris

Add salt and oil to sieved flour.
Mix water to knead and make the dough stiff.
From the dough make small balls.
Roll out the balls into small discs.
Deep fry them in oil.
Remove them once they are puffed and golden brown in color.

Recipe of Idlis
The South Indian dish, Idli is relished by everyone throughout India. People following a diet plan can also include it in their diet chart. Let us show you how to make it at home.
Contents:

Around 1 cup of black gram
Around 1 cup of rice
Around 1 spoon of fenugreek seeds
Some salt

Method:

Take some water in a bowl and soak the rice, black gram and fenugreek seeds.
Leave this combination for a night.
The next morning, take this mixture in a food processor and grind.
Make sure that the mixture is consistent.
Grease every single idli mold and pour in the batter.
Heat some water in the cooker and put in the molds.
Remove the whistle from the cap and cover it for 10 to 15 minutes.
Once done, remove the Idlis from the molds carefully.

Dosa Sambhar Recipe
One of the most famous South Indian recipes is Dosa and Sāmbhar which is popular for its crisp and distinctive taste. This main course meal is available at roadsides and in restaurants. It is also been sold on streets as a very popular street food. Dosa and Sāmbhar are one of the best combinations of Indian food that can be eaten together.
Ingredients required:
For dosa we need:

Some tamarind
Sāmbhar powder, around 2 tablespoons
Around 3 onions
Around 2 tomatoes
Some fresh coriander leaves
Around 10 garlic cloves
Some pigeon peas
Clarified butter
Some mustard seeds
Some asafetida
Some salt for taste

Method to prepare dosa:

At first, wash the dal and rice properly.
Now add the rice, dale, fenugreek seeds and water together in a bowl and let them soak for 7 to 8 hours.
Now blend all the ingredients in a blender to make a paste.
Making a grainy batter will help you make a good dosa.
Add some soda and salt and keep it in a warm place for around 10 hours.
Take the curd in a bowl and beat it till it is smooth.
Add some water to the batter. This will give it enough consistency to coat the spoon.
Prepare the tava or griddle to make the dosa.
Now pour some batter in the middle of the tava.
Make a small round circle with the batter. You can even make a triangle shape.
Put some oil on the tava [...]

North Indian Parantha Recipe
North India is known for its food and flavors and parantha is one of the very famous recipes. One can find parantha prepared and served at the roadside restaurants of North India. It is prepared in a special style with the help of firewood and burning coal to add a smoky flavor to the recipe. One can use a griddle than a duct if preparing it at home. Note down the ingredients to prepare this delicious recipe:

Wheat flour for around 2 cups

Oil or ghee for around 2 teaspoon

Paprika for around 1 teaspoon

Salt for taste

Water for preparing soft dough

Utensils required:

Kitchen platform or Rolling board

Rolling pin

Method for preparation of prantha:

To knead soft dough, you need to mix up all the above ingredients in pliable and elastic dough.

Now leave the dough alone for some time and then, make some five to six balls out of it.

Now make a round disc on the rolling board to make parantha.

Once the parantha is rolled, apply some oil or ghee on it.

Fold it to make it look like a crescent.

Apply ghee on it again.

Now fold it into a triangle shape.

Use the rolling pin to make the parantha in a round circle or triangle depending on your skills.

Dum Aloo
Dum Aloo is a famous dish from Kashmiri cuisine. Here the main ingredients are potatoes and the thing to be noted is that baby potatoes are used for this dish. This is a popular recipe which is prepared all across and India and it has also earned accolades across the world. The ingredients used are simple but the taste is brilliant. You just need to cook it in the right manner.
Items required:

Potatoes small – you can 10 to 15 nos. as per your requirement.

Mustard oil – 3 table spoon – most important ingredient

Salt as per your taste

Tomato puree – preferably 2 table spoon or as per your requirement.

One large onion – thinly sliced so as to fry them

Half a teaspoon of sugar as per requirement
2 cloves of garlic
6 cashewnuts
Half teaspoon of turmeric
Half teaspoon of chilli powder
Garam masala – half a teaspoon (easily available in the market)

How to prepare the dish?

Heat the oil thoroughly in a kadhai
Fry the sliced onions until they are golden brown. Now keep them aside.
Next fry the baby potatoes until they are brown.
Now again heat the oil thoroughly.
Grind the fried onions and garlic to a fine paste. Sauté them in the heated oil along with the spices – turmeric, chilli powder, salt, sugar and garam masala.
Sauté it until the oil leaves the sides of the gravy.
Add tomato puree and then the potatoes with enough water.
Lastly add the cashewnut paste and simmer and serve hot.

Recipe Paneer Curry
Cottage cheese or Paneer is used to prepare Paneer curry. This curry is called as sauce in the Tamil language followed in South Africa. All the masalas and ingredients are mixed with Paneer to make curry which is popular in the North Indian region.

Prepare small cubes of the Paneer.
Take a deep bottom pan and heat some oil in it.
Splutter the cumin seeds in it and add ginger garlic paste.
Avoid the sticking of mixture in the bottom of the pan so add some water and stir it.
Add the masalas and water in a separate bowl.
Now ass this combination in the pan and sauté it.
Now add the tomato puree and sauté it as well.
Add the paste of cashew nuts with sliced pieces of Paneer.
Add water if gravy is dry.
Boil the gravy and serve hot.

Recipe Gulab Jamun.
In the world of Indian Sweets, Gulab Jamun has the pride of place. This soft delicious sweetmeat has captured Indian hearts. People just cannot get enough of this tasty delicious sweet. However, this sweet has now gone global. With people searching for authentic Indian cuisine, this sweet is seen as a perfect accompaniment.

Mix flour, milk powder and semolina and knead them together for making the soft dough.
From the dough, prepare small balls.
Fry it deep on low heat.
Prepare a sugar syrup base.
Now add the cooked balls in the sugar syrup.
Serve hot.

How to cook Kheer
Kheer is a milk pudding which can be made from rice, vermicelli or broken wheat. If served along with nuts and raisins it tastes excellent. This dessert is mainly prepared in South India but equally liked across India. Kheer can be prepared using various ingredients.

Ingredients:

Milk – 1 cup

Half cup of vermicelli, broken wheat or rice. In case you are using broken wheat and rice then you need to soak it for 20 minutes. For vermicelli this is not required.

Cardamoms – 8 of them peeled and powdered.

Soak 20 strands of saffron in 2-3 tablespoon of hot milk.

6-7 tablespoon of sugar.

For the garnish you need 12 pistachios and 14 almonds.

Preparation:

Boil the milk first and then let is simmer for some time.

Now coarsely grind the rice or broken wheat once you drain out the water. In case of vermicelli this is not required.

Now add the rice or broken wheat to the milk and stir it nonstop so that the ingredients do not stick to the vessel.

Now add saffron and powdered cardamoms.

Boil the milk till it thickens after adding sugar and then garnish the Kheer with almonds and pistachios.